(August 15, 2007)--Officials in Iraq now say at least 200 people were killed in Tuesday’s suicide bomb attacks on members of a small religious sect in northern Iraq.

Hundreds more were wounded and officials expect the death toll to continue to climb as searchers dig through the rubble.

The houses were made primarily out of clay, and searchers have been digging with shovels and their bare hands, fearing heavy equipment would cause further collapses.

The bombs went off within minutes of each other and were packed inside four trucks that converged on a town where members of a sect known as the Yazidis.

They practice an ancient religion that worships an angel figure which some Muslims and
Christians consider to be the devil.

The Bush administration denounces the bombings as "barbaric."

A US military spokesman says he think it's the work of al-Qaeda.

A front group for the terrorist organization has denounced the Yazidis as anti-Islamic.

US army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon described the suicide bombing as a horrific act of genocide.

"This is a desperate act on behalf of the enemy to gain media attention," Mixon said.

"They want to influence American public opinion and break our will."

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